Be Good Examples April 12, 2010

Baptism of Joseph (left hand side)

MY birthday was good, basically felt like any other day but I got to listen to the prophet so that rocked.

This week was kind of hard, One of my investigators, a really cute old guy that is 80 yrs old, who was about to accept a baptism date now doesn't want to have anything to do with the church. We talked about him getting baptized the 1st of May and he said he wants to but wanted to see a baptism first, so I called the Zone Leaders and found out if someone would be having a baptism this weekend, luckily some Hermanas close by had a baptism planned for Saturday. So I told my investigator and got it all planned for us to go and he was super dooper excited. I called the Hermanas and they said the baptism would be at 5, but they didn't know the directions to their church so we planned to meet in front of a grocery store at 4:30. We got to the church at 4:40 and no one was there. NO ONE. They were still filling the font and there was no one. So we sat down to wait, and wait and wait and wait. Finally at 6:40 they started the baptism. And it was the most basura baptism I have ever seen, only one talk, Elders making fun, they messed up the baptism, no testimonies. Needless to say there was no spirit whatsoever. When it finally finished my investigator was really grumpy after waiting 4 hours for nothing. The next day when we passed by him to go to church, he said he couldn't come and wasn't sure when we could pass by to teach him again. I was pretty devastated but I remembered the parable of the sower with the different seeds in different soils, maybe he isn't good soil.

But needless to say, my message this week is that we always need to be good examples to everyone. We never know who is watching and the things we do will affect what they think of the church.

But in better news, I have a baptism this Saturday and another one the next Saturday, so the work is rolling on. I love my companion and I really like my area. Right now I'm in a branch of about 55 people, we meet in a small house. It's kind of fun, reminds me of living overseas. I am in Chorrera, it's about an hour from the capital and is a suburb, like always.

Love you all!!!!
hermy

Importance of Family April 6, 2010

I have some bad news for you, I decided I am going to stay my whole mission, this is more important than school so I will be here till February.

This week was good, it was so amazing to be able to listen to the Prophet and Apostles, I ate it all up. I don't have a lot of time today so I just want to spend what I have telling you all how much I love you all. I have come to realize in the mission the importance of my family and it truly can't be a "happily ever after" without you all. I know that the only way we can gain our "happily ever after" is in the prince of peace. Putting in practice the atonement in our lives. I know that my Savior lives, I know he loves us incredibly because he gave his life so that we can be with him again. I can not deny the evidence of his love and support in my life every moment. But it is up to us to decide whether or not we want our "happily ever after".

I am so grateful for the wonderful family I have been given, you are one of the greatest blessings I have received in this life. I am so grateful for all of the support and love I receive from each and every one of you. While listening to conference yesterday I felt very strongly the spirit testify to me that we are in the last days and that these calamities are just the beginning of the turbulence, that deaths will begin to occur more and reach us in our daily lives. We truly never know when our test in this life will be over. I beg each and everyone of you, turn to our Savior, live your life in such a manner that if your life was over tomorrow you would have no regrets and would be prepared. I don't want to get to heaven and not have all of you there with me. It is not easy but it is worth it.


I had a combined Birthday Party with the Branch Pres.. These are his daughters.

For the party we broke a pinata.

The Mermaid Pinata

All my love,
Hermy

Sweet Experience March 29, 2010

This week was amazing, I worked so I hard I literally crashed last night. I love my companion, her name is Hermana Galan. She is from Nicaragua. I love teaching with her as we really have the spirit together and I feel very unified in our work. We kind of a had a cool experience this week. We taught a family this week where the kids are members and the mom has been coming to church for years but hasn't been able to get baptized because the Dad won't get married with her - the biggest and most common challenge here in Panama. We watched a movie about Christ and I bore my testimony about his love for us and about the Savior and the spirit was incredible strong. Later that night, when we were planning my companion told me that as I was bearing my testimony she had a really sweet experience in which she felt that she knew me before this life, as she told me about it I felt the spirit confirm that it was true. It is amazing what we have accomplished in just one week together.

So this area has been quite a change. I am now a pro at bucket showers, we rarely have water so every time we use the bathroom, shower, wash, etc I have to bring in water from a little tank outside. I kind of feel like a pioneer. Also its definitely more dangerous here than my other areas but I know the Lord will protect me.

We are teaching a lot of people right now, and we have a baptism this Saturday. This is my companions third change and she hasn't had a baptism yet in the mission so she is really excited. We are going to do it in between conference session Saturday which should be pretty dang cool.

I am so excited for conference. I am counting down the days, I can't wait to hear what the prophet and every one will say.

I love what you said about love from Sunday. Really in the mission, I have learned that everything is about love. I have felt the love of the Lord for all of these people, and it amazes me how much he truly loves us. It is more than we can comprehend. But more difficult is to learn to love him back. This truly takes strength and action, keeping the commandments, etc.

Lucky this change my companion likes to exercise so we have been running in the mornings, I feel skinnier already. It is kind of funny because people here don't really exercise much, they don't know what to do, so I've been teaching my companion. We've been running sprints and stretching and all kinds of things. Now there is a lady that started talking to us and asked if she could run with us and a member too. I feel like a trainer or coach or something. The lady asked me if was an important athlete, it gave me a pretty good laugh. Gotta love all the crazy things that happen in the mission.

I can't believe I'm going to be 22 soon, it feels like I just left for the mission. I can't believe its almost been a year since I got my call and everything.
Everything is great with me, I love the members here, it is only a branch of 50 people so it has its challenges, but I love it here.

I love you all and I miss you a TON.
one more month and we can talk on the phone!!!
xoxoxox

The Fair and Another Change March 22, 2010

The fair was ... interesting. I sent you a guys a package but I'm not sure how long it will take to get there, but it only cost 9 bucks. There were tons of different booths from countries here in Central America selling stuff and there was TONS of food and the best of all the rides. I talk my companion into doing the Montana Russo with me. It's the biggest roller coaster they have in the fair. Not the best idea, it ends up that roller coasters here aren't so much like roller coasters in the USA. They're not well greased and smooth, felt more like a earthquake than anything. Poor thing, my companion, we were shaking all over the place and she hit her jaw on the safety guard and her cheek was all swollen the next day. All week she only chewed her food on one side of her mouth, looked like a little chipmunk which gave me a good laugh. Overall, the fair was fun but I think Disney World wins.

A ride at the Fair

So today we had changes, I got moved to Chorrera. Don't know much, just got here. My new companion seems really sweet and I like her a lot. Her name is Hermana Galan and she is from Niciragua. I was really sad to leave David, I didn't think I would have changes. I had 2 baptisms planned in 2 weeks and a whole bunch of plans with the members. But I know the Lord has lots of work for me and that there is a reason why I'm here now. So yesterday I got to ride the 8 hour bus back to Panama City again. The exciting part is I got to sleep in the house of Pres. Madrigal last night and I took my first hot shower in 6 months. It was weird.

The past week I still had really horrible stomach pains, turns out I am more Mom than we thought. The doctor I talked to says I have the beginning of a stomach ulcer from stress. But not to worry he gave me some pills I have to take and I should be good to go. I've been taking them 4 days now and the pain is almost gone.

Everything is good here in Zion, just working my little heart out.

Love you all a ton and I hope this finds you all safe and sound.
Love, Hermy

Stomach Pains March 15, 2010

This week was pretty good. We put a baptismal date with a guy we have been teaching the past few weeks that has changed so much.

Changes are this next Monday and I'm praying I won't get changed. I don't feel like my work is done yet in this area and I really want to be here for the next few baptisms we have coming up.

I was super sick to my stomach again this week, I think the eating so much constipation, laxatives and whole routine has taken a toll on my stomach. I had a really sharp pain two days straight so at least now I have the nurses okay to tell people I can't eat, and she told me to start taking little doggie bags and tell the people I am saving their food for later... The fun things that happen to your body here....

As for the burning I put on sunscreen everyday, its just the the place I printed the pictures is really cheap so they all turned out reddish.

This week the fair is here and all the countries here is Central America have booths, and there is food and roller coasters. I am really excited to go today and check it all out. I'll send you guys some pics and whatever I find.

Serving the Lord March 8, 2010

Baptism of Hermana Quezaliris

This week was amazing. Monday I had interviews with the Mission President and talked to him about a lot of concerns I had and he helped a ton. This week my companion and I worked together so well, we accomplish so much.

Hermana Cecilia got baptized a month ago, she is still doing awesome. We talked to her this week about temple marriage because she is starting to get more serious with her boyfriend, so we will see how that goes... I told her if he didn't want the church it was best to drop him.

This week I really gained a testimony that there is no excuse for not serving the Lord and keeping his commandments. In my ward here, the members have really slacked off or misunderstood their callings for quite some time. The computer list of members says we have 390 members but only 70 people are at church. No one has taken care of the in-actives or sent info of people that have moved. We are working to fix all this but it makes me so sad that we don't know what happened to so many of the Lords sheep. When we got baptized we promised to serve others and keep the commandment see Mosiah 18. So those who refuse to do their calling or help others really have some stepping up to do. If we really want to live with our savior after this life we have to be willing to sacrifice as he did.

Anyways, I love you all so much and I'm so grateful to be serving here.

THANKS!!!

Long Trip to Immigration Office March 1, 2010

As for me this week was interesting. I had to travel to Panama City for immigracions which wasn't much fun. We left at 3 am from here, arrived at 9 something, went straight to immigracion, waited there forever, ate really quick and got back on a bus for another 9 hour ride. We finally got home at about 9 and needless to say I hope by the time my card expires again I'm back closer to Panama City.

But despite my trip, my companion and I worked really hard this weekend and found 20 new people to teach. Hopefully a few of them will want to change their lives for the better. This week we had a lesson with a lady we have been teaching that has a baptismal date for the 13th of March. It was kind of cool because she is the mom of one of the members here and came up to us and basically said she wanted to get baptized because her grand daughter who is 4 asked her why she was going to the church of Satan, which got her to thinking and ended up with us. Yesterday we were teaching her a lesson and went over the baptismal interview questions to make sure she is ready. However, due to some past mistakes she has to interview with the stake president. As she talked about her past sin she said it was something she did to find a answer to her problem but after a few months the same problem came back. That really the answers of the world are not lasting and never really help us. It made me so grateful that I have known since a young age that the answers from God are so much better than those of the world and that I know where to find these answers. I am so grateful for the atonement, for the ability we have to change and grow and repent of our sins.

Anyways, I love you all and I am so grateful for your prayers, letters and support.
Always choose the right and, remember who you are.

Love, Hermy

Craving the Spirit February 7, 2010

Kara and her companion, Hermana Castro from Honduras
>
> The food here is the same as Panama City, but I only eat with the members for lunch so I'm not getting fed as much. The members we live next to, rarely make us food but they often give us fruits or vegetables.

> My area that I live in is flat, completely flat. I have definitely walked more than a thousand miles and my shoes have huge holes in the bottom of them. I finally gave in and bought new shoes this past week because my feet were burning from the concrete. The nicest shoe store they have here is Payless, but you don't really pay less, but its the best quality they have here, so I bought 2 pairs of shoes. Less comfy than my old ones, but they'll do for the next 10000 miles. I don't need any clothes or anything here.
>
> I still haven't gotten your packages or pics, the mail is a lot slower in this area. I'm pretty sure it sits in the mission office a few weeks before they get around to sending it down here. But I'll get it at some point...
>
> Changes are today and I am getting a new companion. I'm still waiting for her to arrive from the 8 hr bus ride so I'm not sure who it will be... but I'm staying in the same area and things are great. Cecilia got baptized this past Saturday and the baptism despite a few obstacles was AWESOME. I am so blessed to be here helping people find the true happiness that we all crave.

> The biggest obstacle for me I think right now is the fact that I'm blond and mas o menos attractive, that is what the men tell me. I am trying to figure out if the men I'm teaching are really interested in the gospel or just interested in me. I refuse to baptize anyone that doesn't have a true testimony but figuring out if they have a testimony or not leaves me boggled. I am just going to have to rely on the Lord. I am so grateful for the gift of the spirit, half the time I don't even know I'm being guided but the things like the baptism of Cecilia happen. I know that I was being guided. It is interesting how as a missionary I crave the spirit and feel lost and muddled when I don't have it with me strongly. I hope this craving never leaves me.

> I love you all so much and my prayers are always with you.
>
> Les amo!
> Hermy

Sacrifice February 3, 2010

One of my favorite quotes by Joseph Smith is that without sacrifice we will never have the faith sufficient for eternal life.

Things were a little tough this week, but it ended up good. My investigator that threw out her coffee had her baptismal interview yesterday and is all set to go for this Saturday. She cant wait. We baptized a girl this Thursday who went directly after on a temple trip with the ward. It was so cool to see all of my converts here drive all night 8 hours in a bus to go to the temple. LOVE IT.

Right now we are teaching a guy who had a car accident 8 years ago and now his legs don't work. A lot has changed since then, his wife left him, he could do his job and was left all alone. Now he is a taxi driver - he uses a stick to drive. He is super awesome, I know he can be healed through the atonement and I am enjoying helping him. He has a baptismal date for the 20th and can't wait.

Changes are this next Monday, I'm not sure what will happen, I'm pretty sure I'll be staying here, but you never know.

Love you all,

LES AMO!!

Obedience,washing our sins down the sink! January 25. 2010

Hey mom!!!

This week was an interesting week. One of the 70's came and taught all day in our Zone Conference this week which was AMAZING. I learned so much and felt so uplifted. It was like being in the MTC all over again.

Thursday, the day after I worked the hardest and most intense than I have since I got here, I was so fired up from the conference. I contacted 60 people, taught 9 lessons and it was amazing. I love being a missionary and being guided by the spirit.

Also this week I had an awesome experience with my investigator that is preparing to get baptized. We taught her the word of wisdom last week and she told us she drinks coffee everyday all morning long, so we challenged her to stop drinking so she could get baptized. This week when we got there, I asked her how she was doing with dropping her coffee addiction and she said she was still drinking her coffee and that she didn't want to stop drinking and was asking what would happen with her baptism if she decided not to change. I began to share with her an experience where I knew the right thing I had to do but chose to follow my own will and do what I wanted and how I suffered until I chose to follow the Lords will and then taught her about obedience. At the end of the lesson she was unusually quiet and I was kind of worried, so I asked how she felt, what she was thinking and she got up and walked into the kitchen and said come here. So I followed her into the kitchen and she proceeded to dump her coffee, all the coffee grinds everything into the sink and washed it all down and then threw her coffee pot in the garbage and said, I want to follow Gods will. No one in this house will drink coffee ever again. Its been 3 days and she hasn't had any coffee. It was such an example to me, she immediately cast away her sins without even looking back. It definitely humbled me. How many times do we hold on to old sins because we don't want to change. I challenge all of you to think about your own lives, is there anything you need to wash down the sink?
I am teaching a lot or people right now who are incredible examples. The Lord is truly blessing me in finding the people prepared here.

I miss you all and love you but I may never come home.

Cuidanse mucho
hasta la proxima semana, todo de mi amor
Hermana Bloomfield